Books › The new Rolling Stone album guide › Books like it
If you loved
Books like The new Rolling Stone album guide
An authoritative and immersive deep-dive into the sounds, personalities, and enduring legacies of contemporary popular music. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with The new Rolling Stone album guide.
- analytical
- nostalgic
- engaging
- 01
Mystery train
Greil Marcus · 1975
A brilliant, foundational exploration of how rock 'n' roll reflects and shapes the American cultural landscape.
- 02
Love Is a Mix Tape
Rob Sheffield
A bittersweet, mixtape-guided tour through the giddy highs of young love and the devastating lows of sudden loss.
- 03
Bob Dylan
Clinton Heylin · 1988
A meticulously detailed, opinionated deep-dive into the shifting masks and studio sessions of a musical enigma.
- 04
How Music Works
David Byrne
An expansive, deeply curious exploration of how physical spaces, technology, and human nature collaborate to create the sounds that move us.
- 05
The song machine
John Seabrook
A backstage pass into the hyper-engineered, psychologically manipulative, and endlessly fascinating factory of modern pop music.
- 06
Please kill me
Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
A raw, rapid-fire backstage pass to the birth of punk that feels like eavesdropping on the most dangerous, drug-fueled party of the 1970s.
- 07
The Rest Is Noise
Alex Ross · 2007
A sweeping, symphonic journey through the turbulent twentieth century, heard through the brilliant and chaotic music it produced.
- 08
The Enjoyment of Music
Kristine Forney and Joseph Machlis
An academic yet accessible journey that transforms passive hearing into active, enlightened listening.
- 09
The history of jazz
Ted Gioia · 1997
An immersive, brilliantly portrayed journey through the breakthrough styles and legendary figures of a defining musical era.
- 10
A history of western music
Donald J. Grout · 1960
A monumental, scholarly journey through the centuries of sound that shaped the Western world.
- 11
Esquire's The New Rules for Men
Esquire
A witty, bite-sized manual for navigating modern life with a dash of old-school swagger.
- 12
Guitar for dummies
Mark Phillips and Jon Chappell · 1998
A friendly, pressure-free jam session with a patient teacher who just wants you to have fun making music.
